1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the information presenting technologies, and it particularly relates to method and apparatus for presenting, by the use of a computer, the information that users desire to have and look for.
2. Description of the Related Art
With advances in personal computer and other information processing devices, the Internet and other network infrastructure and multimedia technology handling images and voices, coupled with a rapid increase in digital contents, it is now possible for general users to access an unprecedented volume of data or number of files. This trend will become more marked from now on as information technology makes further advances.
However, the increase in the number of files or the amount of data that can be accessed has broadened the user's choice almost limitlessly, bringing about what we may call the floods of information. In the past, files could be displayed classified under folders or directories. But when there are several thousands to tens of thousands of files, it is no longer possible to store them in folders so as to present the users with a full view of them. For example, conventional search techniques are subject to limitations when viewing the entire music file of J-POP via the Internet or selecting a desired program from hundreds of digital broadcast channels. In fact, it is only those with special skill in information search that can properly extract a most desirable piece of information in a short time from among a mass of information.